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BDN reports ” Former Maine Attorney General James Tierney told a Portland audience Tuesday evening that the state’s economy will depend on its ability to attract — and accommodate — newcomers from foreign countries.

“We are so old that we have got to attract people to come to Maine from someplace else. I don’t care what color they are, I just want them to come here,” Tierney said. “We’re not talking about affirmative action, we’re not talking about doing people favors. We’re talking about doing ourselves a favor if we can figure out this diversity issue.”

Tierney joined Eva Millona, a former Albanian judge and executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, as keynote speakers in a panel discussion about economic growth and immigration.

The talk was the first in a series of five such public discussions scheduled for Portland through June, and comes against a backdrop of an ongoing dispute between city officials and Gov. Paul LePage over the distribution of aid money to undocumented immigrants…. immigrants are 30 percent more likely to start their own businesses than native-born U.S. citizens.

“If immigrants succeed, we all benefit,” said opening speaker Tim Honey, president of the World Affairs Council of Maine. “If immigrants don’t, we all pay the price.”

Tierney said that Maine’s aging population represents an economic crisis, and the state’s only chance to avoid economic ruin will be to welcome immigrants to replenish its population. “We are no longer a state with people looking for jobs, we’re a state with jobs looking for people,” Tierney said. “We have jobs in this state, which we’re losing because we do not have people to fill them.”

The former attorney general said Mainers must reject the “politics of fear” and embrace programs that create opportunities for immigrants.”

“If immigrants succeed, we all benefit.” “If immigrants don’t, we all pay the price.”

Hard working Mainers have “paid the price” through the “theft” of their small businesses and loss of livelihood through the failure of accountability within the State of Maine. Can we do “ourselves a favor” and put Mainers first….let’s start with accountability and restitution of the losses of livelihoods!! Then, perhaps, people will have trust that their hard work will not be “ripped out” from under them, decide to stay in Maine and start their small businesses. Brushing crimes “under the rug” does not move Maine forward…wake up!

Isn’t it high time that our elected officials listen to some real problems facing Maine’s economy? They can only learn by speaking with the people who have been “tossed out” of their system, rather than those who “control” their system.

Like this:

“Attorneys general are now the object of aggressive pursuit by lobbyists and lawyers who use campaign contributions, personal appeals at lavish corporate-sponsored conferences and other means to push them to drop investigations, change policies, negotiate favorable settlements or pressure federal regulators, an investigation by The New York Times has found.

A result is that the routine lobbying and deal-making occur largely out of view. But the extent of the cause and effect is laid bare in The Times’s review of more than 6,000 emails obtained through open records laws in more than two dozen states, interviews with dozens of participants in cases and attendance at several conferences where corporate representatives had easy access to attorneys general. Often, the corporate representative is a former colleague.”

“The current and increasing level of the lobbying of attorneys general creates, at the minimum, the appearance of undue influence, and is therefore unseemly,” said James E. Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine, who now runs a program at Columbia University that studies state attorneys general. “It is undermining the credibility of the office of attorney general.”

“Mr. Tierney, the former Maine attorney general, said that lobbyists were entitled to set up a meeting with the attorneys general in their offices. But to write a check, for as much as $125,000, to gain days’ worth of private time with the attorneys general is another matter, he said. When you start to connect the actual access to money, and the access involves law enforcement officials, you have clearly crossed a line,” he said. “What is going on is shocking, terrible.”

“In an effort to make allies rather than adversaries, Bernard Nash, the head of the attorney general practice at Dickstein and the self-proclaimed “godfather” of the field, tells clients that it is essential to build a personal relationship with important attorneys general, part of what his firm boasts as “connections that count.”

“Through their interaction with A.G.s, these individuals will become the ‘face’ of the company to A.G.s, who are less likely to demagogue companies they know and respect,” said a confidential memo that Dickstein sent late last year to one prospective client, Caesars Entertainment.

Executing this strategy means targeting the attorneys general “front office,” a reference to the handful of important decision makers.”

“For the attorneys general, there is a personal benefit, too: Their airfare, meals and hotel bills at these elite resorts are generally covered, either by the corporate sponsors or state taxpayers.”

“The schedule of attorney general conferences for the coming year is laid out — after a pause for the elections — with events set for the Fontainebleau resort in Miami Beach, the Four Seasons Hotel at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and the Grand Wailea resort on Maui, among many others. The invitations for corporate sponsorships are already being sent.”
Read more HERE.

James Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine, states “What is going on is shocking, terrible. It is undermining the credibility of the office of attorney general.” Oh really? Credibility?

Evidence proves a pattern of official corruption within Maine’s Attorney General’s Office since the days of Jim Tierney…nothing has changed!

How about some accountability within Maine’s government?

With the upcoming election, will the elected officials finally do the right thing….or will history repeat itself? Will credibility not only lack with the Attorney General?

“You might think the following is an aberration in Maine Courts, sadly it happens on a fairly regular basis.

On Wednesday we were in Farmington Superior Court watching
Judge Donald Marden perform, er preside over a case that’s been in the courts since 1994.

First we were denied the right as a reporter to video or audio record the hearing, you can see why as you read further. At 09:30 J. Marden told the Defendant in Farry v. Lavigne CV-94-61, “I don’t chew my cabbage twice.” Then Marden proceeded to repeat his previous statement. Who wouldn’t want to see that on YouTube.com? At 09:35 Marden told the Defendant, “If you’ll be quiet for a moment I’ll tell you what it is.” This seems to be the polite way of saying, just shut up. Not too condescending if Judge Marden was talking to a second grader. The best quote at 11:12 was the Defendant requesting for the SECOND TIME to invoke her rights under Rule 76H to have her own recording of the Hearing made. Marden said, “You have a right to a recording and that’s it.” As Marden indicated by pointing to the official transcription made by the court reporter sitting in front of the witness stand.

In Rule 76H there’s no place that allows any judge to override the rule at their own whim. It states, the Rule, SHALL NOT BE DEFEATED. I guess when this Rule was dreamed up, the authors hadn’t heard about Judge Donald Marden’s veto power over it.”

As the swill turns, connect the dots. If you have not viewed Tom Dunn’s Most Powerful, Revealing Video, please do so. You will learn of the official corruption that Mainers are facing today. The pattern has not changed….only positions of players have changed.

Tom’ s video is a draft of what was to be a full documentary. He was called into the Attorney General’s Office to conduct an investigation for them. He apparently came up with more evidence than the A.G.’s Office wanted. Arthur Brennan (who was elevated to judgeship) brushed Tom’s evidence under the rug and Tom was off the case!

Maine Exposed, hosted by Leon Bard, will broadcast a series of programs on public corruption. A video, documented by Tom Dunn, has recently been put out on the internet and prompted this series.

These broadcasts will educate and inform the public that this pattern of public corruption depicted on Tom’s video continues today. Officials named in Tom’s tape continue to sit in their official capacity or were elevated to higher positions, including appointment to judgeship. This pattern of public corruption will take us into New Hampshire, New Jersey and the Department of Justice, Washington DC.

Tom’s impressive resume includes his recruitment into N.S.A.’s (National Security Agency’s) A.S.A. (Army Security Agency), Far East, as field agent with 330th A.S.A. as head of Top-Secret-Codeword operations as Non-Commissioned-Officer-in-Charge, member of the Baltimore P.D., and president/investigator for L.A.W., Inc., a citizen’s advocate organization that exposed corruption at all levels and which was extremely successful.

Dottie Lafortune who produced and hosted a public access t.v. talk show, The Maine Forum, in Biddeford, Maine, and a personal friend of Tom’s, will join us in these discussions. Tom had been a guest several times on her program as was Philip Castora, a licensed Private Investigator, who gave a report containing his conclusions with respect to various public documents relative to his investigation into fraudulent confiscations of property through the concerted actions of city officials, bankers and the courts. This resulted in the pulling of the “What Price Justice” program from the air and the black-out of public access to all producers. A copy of “What Price Justice?” was mailed out to many of you across the country and you know the contents of that broadcast. We hope that this invite gets out to those of you and that you join us on this program.

These broadcasts will be held on Wednesday evenings, series beginning on October 12, 2011, and will be most interesting and revealing. We hope to see you there.

“Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin said during Violette’s court hearing that the state can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the former turnpike head used approximately $155,000 in authority money on personal expenses, including gift cards to hotels and resorts in Canada, France, Italy, Bermuda and Puerto Rico.” “These are people who never imagined themselves in jail,” she said, calling the Violette case “the biggest public robbery case I’ve seen in my 28 years of public service.” “Robbin told reporters after the hearing Thursday that Violette exhibited a “significant abuse of power.”

The news reports that Violette is accused of theft by unauthorized taking.

Is the pot calling the kettle black?????

I “can prove beyond a reasonable doubt“ that Asst. A.G. Leanne Robbin, in concert with Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn, “exhibited a significant abuse of power.” Aren’t these two government employees doing the same thing that Asst. A.G. Robbin’s is prosecuting Violette for?

Who will prosecute them?

Inquiry on the status of my correspondence to Secretary of State Charles Summers regarding possible election law violations dating back to 2004. (This was also brought to former Sec. of State Matthew Dunlap during his tenure.) Secretary Summers did not find that there was significant evidence to support an investigation.

PPH reports “The former executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority has been charged with felony theft and faces time in prison as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The state Attorney General’s Office said Thursday that Paul Violette was charged with unauthorized use of the turnpike authority’s gift cards and credit cards for personal travel, meals and other expenses exceeding $10,000 in value. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.”

********

Debate began in the late 1970’s to decide whether or not the Maine Turnpike should continue as a toll highway or become a “freeway.” Some citizens wanted the responsibility to maintain the roadway and construct new projects on the Turnpike placed under the jurisdiction of the Maine Department of Transportation. The Legislature also gave the Authority a directive to study the needs of new interchanges in urban regions to promote economic development and increased commercial activity. By allowing tolls to remain the Turnpikes revenue source, and the Turnpike Authority to manage the highway, valuable and increasingly limited state and federal transportation funding, generated by state and federal gas taxes, could be used to maintain the rest of Maine’s roads, bridges and highways.

PPH reports “The resignation of the head of the Maine Turnpike Authority” and lawmakers are “pushing forward with their investigation of the authority’s spending and lobbying practices.”

Former state Sen. Peter Mills “will replace Paul Violette, who was executive director for 23 years until he resigned last week amid questions about the authority’s spending practices. The Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee wants Violette and other turnpike authority executives and board members to appear at a hearing April 15. The committee has said it may issue subpoenas if they do not appear voluntarily, and has said people should be prepared to testify under oath.” The Sun Journal reports, “Mills, an attorney, is noted for his open and direct manner of speaking and his enthusiasm for tackling difficult subjects.”

“Although the Legislature oversees the MTA’s operating budget, it has little oversight of the agency’s repair-maintenance budget, a $33 million fund in which a watchdog group discovered questionable expenditures.”

The Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee will “examine the legality of the turnpike authority’s practices of withholding some budget information from the Legislature, lobbying state officials and giving money to dozens of organizations and trade groups.” The committee is also concerned about “$157,000 worth of gift cards that the authority donated to organizations but could not explain with any documentation.”

If Peter Mills is open to tackling difficult subjects (and won’t look the other way as he’s done with bank fraud), he should look into the MTA’s relationship with the MDOT and “friends” which began during the tenure of former Governor Joseph Brennan, per Tom Dunn’s investigation. Tom’s investigation was brushed under the rug by then Asst. A.G. Arthur Brennan who sits on the bench in York County Superior Court.

Isn’t it interesting that the MTA board hired Roger Mallar as a consultant? Mallar was Maine’s transportation commissioner under Governor Joseph Brennan.

Has anything changed? Will Governor LePage be in for another surprise? Will Peter Mills’ uphold his “integrity, experience and commitment to public service?”

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What Price Justice?

The main purpose of this blog is to bring the truth to the people of Maine and across this country about the corrupt state, judicial and federal officials who are influenced by special interests where our citizens are getting abused and where the perpetrators find shelter under the state and federal Attorneys General do-nothing umbrella of authority.
The dots will be connected to show a pattern of co-operation and obstruction of justice under color of legal authority between all levels of local, county, state and federal governments to sock it to us, intimidate and deny us due process. We are sitting ducks for official harassment and are getting wrongfully harmed, scammed, beaten, drugged or otherwise deprived of our life, liberty and property by a whole system of administrative terror which has grown up throughout the country.
Feel free to comment with any information you may have of corruption or abuse by the people or agencies you see listed here.

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